Media News - Friday, August 28, 2009

Ukrainian experts say skull belongs to journalist murdered in 2000

Ukrainian forensic experts have concluded that the skull that was found with the help of Gen. Olexy Pukach, a former interior ministry intelligence officer who was arrested on 21 July, is that of Georgy Gongadze, a journalist who was murdered in September 2000. This was announced at a news conference today by Valentyna Telychenko, the lawyer of Gongadze’s widow, Myroslava Gongadze. “We take note of the results of the forensic examination and we await the continuation of the investigation,” Reporters Without Borders said. “It is vital that a DNA test should be now be carried out abroad, so that it should be above all suspicion and so that the Ukrainian judicial system can move forward on this case.” This is what Reporters Without Borders requested in a letter to Ukraine’s prosecutor general on 10 August. “If this finding is confirmed, we could soon see a final outcome to case that rightly shook Ukrainian society,” the press freedom organisation added. Telychenko said today: “A part of the expert evaluation has been finished. It has already been confirmed that the skull is Georgy Gongadze’s. The next step will be a DNA examination, which must be carried out by a foreign institution with Ukrainian forensic experts in attendance. Most probably, the DNA examination will be carried out in the United States." (Reporters Without Borders)

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